Steerpike

Since his Grenfell gaffe in the last election, Jacob Rees-Mogg has kept a much lower media profile, to the consternation of sketch writers across the nation. The Leader of the House now mostly saves his quips, riffes and various bon mots for his appearances at the dispatch box, announcing the government timetable or rapping New Order. Fortunately the 'Honourable Member for the 18th century' does still maintain a regular podcast with ConservativeHome to offer us glimpses into his true feelings about various shenanigans in Westminster and Whitehall. Ahead of the easing of Covid restrictions next Monday, the North East Somerset MP was asked about the future of face masks, given the detectable shift in tone from ministers in the past week.

It's groundhog day in the House of Commons today. Another Health Secretary, another Covid announcement and now another scheduled vote on the government's decision to abandon the Tory commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on international aid. The Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs this afternoon that there will tomorrow be a three hour debate and a binding vote on a motion about the Treasury's restrictions on the international aid budget. If the motion is rejected, the previous 0.7 per cent commitment on international aid will be reinstated from January 2022.

In a heartfelt letter addressed to Gareth Southgate, HM the Queen has sent her 'good wishes' to the team and praised 'the spirit, commitment and pride' shown by England during the Euro 2020 championship.  The Queen began her letter by recalling her presentation of the World Cup to Bobby Moore 55 years ago, after Geoff Hurst scored two goals in extra time to seal the victory.  Gareth Southgate has made his own sense of patriotism clear this weekend, revealing in the Telegraph that he wants the team to inspire people both on and off the pitch: 'We have a view of what being English should represent and standards we want to hit.

Fractious times over at Guardian towers. The long-running battle between Kath Viner, the paper’s editor, and Anette Thomas, the media group’s chief executive, concluded last month after the latter resigned over conflicting views about the Graun’s future. It’s not just the boardroom where such clashes are being played out. Mr S hears word that the editorial floors of the Guardian and its Sunday sister the Observer have become riven with tensions over the perennial problem of trans rights. WhatsApp groups are ablaze with talk that Observer commentator Sonia Sodha could become the next feminist hounded out of the group, following Suzanne Moore’s purging in November.

Football fever appears to have infected the Commons, following England's 2-1 win over Denmark last night. Tory backbencher Lee Anderson may still be maintaining his boycott over the team's 'taking the knee' stance but the rest of his parliamentary colleagues have been eagerly following the journey of Southgate's side, judging by the plethora of pictures plastered across various social media sites. Even the hallowed chamber of the Commons itself has not been immune from some dreadful football-related 'puns.' First Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner opened at the dispatch box today with this 'zinger': 'Football is coming home, but I also think the chickens are coming home to roost for this government.' Instant red card for that one.

It was just three weeks ago that Steerpike pointed out that Labour MP Naz Shah was being billed to speak at a charity fundraiser alongside a controversial imam. Now it seems the shadow minister for community cohesion has caused yet further headaches for her leader thanks to her speech on Monday on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.  Just hours after Kim Leadbeater took her seat in Parliament, following a campaign dogged by questions about a Batley school teacher forced to go into hiding for showing children a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, Shah delivered an eyebrow-raising intervention likening such depictions to the vandalism of Winston Churchill's statue.

Government flats have been in the news a fair bit recently. Much ink was spilled over the £88,000 Boris and Carrie shelled out to interior designer Lulu Lytle to do up the Prime Minister's flat at the end of last year. But now it seems the Johnsons got off lightly, judging by the current exorbitant rate going for Downing Street apartments. A Freedom of Information request by Steerpike has shed light on a previously little-known arrangement between government departments over the Chancellor's official flat, which is based in No. 10, adjacent to the Prime Minister's larger abode next door in No. 11.

It's been a busy afternoon in Westminster, with both Boris Johnson's press conference and Sajid Javid's Commons statement absorbing the attention of SW1's finest hacks. In the New Labour era, such a smorgasbord of headlines would be what cynical spin-doctors call: 'A good day to bury bad news' – with all eyes elsewhere, it's the perfect time to take out the trash. So Mr S was intrigued to see Oliver Dowden's culture department quietly issue a letter today, thanking Roger Taylor for his three years at the helm of the little-known 'Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.' The latter is best known as the former chair of exams regulator Ofqual, who quit at the end of last year after the summer's A-level results day fiasco.